EPP President slams Papandreou

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The President of the European People’s Party (EPP) Wilfried Martens expressed today his confidence that Thursday’s Eurozone Summit will contribute to the stabilization of the financial situation in Europe: 

“I am certain that the Eurozone Heads of State and Government understand fully the complexity of the situation and will respond with a solution that restores market confidence. 

The EPP leaders are working hard to safeguard the European interest and will also tackle the different challenges that some Eurozone member countries are currently experiencing. EPP stakeholders in the EU institutions are coordinating regularly at all levels and are acting with determination and responsibility,” said the EPP President.

“The unstable economic situation of the past few months has shown us that we need more convergence, better coordination among national fiscal policies, and more discipline from Eurozone members. The EPP stands firmly behind deeper economic integration and is ready to support this long-term strategy,” underlined President Martens.“Efforts and reforms are also needed at the national level. We have to prove to the markets that we are open to investors, we are becoming more competitive, and that we can secure the sustainability of our economies and our public finances,” President Martens stated.Referring to last week’s attack of the Party of European Socialists (PES) against the EPP, President Martens remarked:

“The PES statement was neither coherent nor substantial and its only purpose was to attack the EPP. It’s a superficial statement from a superficial ‘meeting’ and it proves once again that the PES has an archaic understanding of economics. The PES claims to be progressive but its statements and policies are actually regressive and out of touch with reality,” underlined the EPP President.

Regarding the PES attack on the EPP, the only EU Prime Minister associated with this initiative is Greece’s George Papandreou (who is also President of the Socialist International):

“I was flabbergasted to see Mr Papandreou in particular, talking on behalf of the PES about the lack of political will in Europe. Instead of wasting time on nonsensical political maneuvers with his Socialist colleagues, Europe expects Mr Papandreou to put all of his time and energy on implementing the agreed measures and reforms which Greece urgently needs,” Martens concluded.

In memory of Socrates Golias (VIDEO)

On July 19 2010, investigative journalist Socrates Golias was viciously killed by unknown gunmen on the doorstep of his home in Athens. The murder marked the first killing of a journalist in Greece in more than 20 years.

He was shot several times by three men whose identity still remains unknown. Golias worked as a journalist on "Proto Thema" and was one of the founders of the Greek blog Troktiko. (The Rodent).

Socrates managed to put into practice his vision of an unfettered information system with total freedom of speech at the "troktiko.blogspot.com".

I remember logging on all the time, and getting infuriated with some of his posts because they insulted some of the people that I supported, but nonetheless I liked that there was “another opinion” available to information junkies such as myself.

A visionary and a creator of the idea of an independent media that informed people with dignity and satire as he stated, he made this online information site a habit and his blog managed to quickly become the world's No.1 blog with more than 1,500. 000 (!) daily visitors and over 400 (!) posts a day. It certainly caused a stir in the news industry and a substantial number of television and radio programs replicated his reports! 

Together with a young staff, that was not related to the journalism field, but that believed in his vision, Socrates managed to build a strong group that was closely tied to him, and defended his ideals.
 
Like I said above, I did not agree with much of what the blog published, and at times got infuriated with some of his articles. But I always run by the notion that you have to study the enemy in order to be well prepared to face the storm, and I live by the ideal of free speech and free thought.

Most of all I respected that the blog, right or wrong, went against the mainstream media, and presented another side to the news.

I also respect that fact that with his electronic keypad "pen", Socrates Giolias at least tried to go against “the system”. 

He succeeded, but eventually paid the tragic price: His own life!
 
At 37 years of age and shortly before becoming a father for the second time (his wife was four months pregnant when he was murdered) he was gunned down on the morning of July 19, 2010 at the entrance of his home ... 

Some 17 bullets silenced the voice of a truly free man ... 

The Troktiko.blog closed shop a few days later, with the last post saying… "Goodnight Greece".

Whether I agreed with him or not, and whether I enjoyed the stories he posted does not really make a difference, his death without a doubt was a tragedy.

Socrates was an inspiration to all bloggers, and today bloggers everywhere honour him. 

You will always be remembered Socrates, my personal condolences to your family and friends. 

Signed

Marina Spanos

Taxi drivers extend strike until Friday, July 22.

Greek taxi drivers decided on Tuesday to extend their 48-hour strike that would of ended at 5 am on Wednesday morning and will now strike until this forthcoming Friday, July 22.

This morning they renewed their rendezvous outside their offices to decide what further strategy to take. While tomorrow they are expected to rally outside the Ministry of Infrastructure.

The situation on the streets of Athens spiraled out of control after the traffic chaos caused by the taxi protests. The drivers departed from Piraeus port and later from Eleftherios Venizelos airport and headed towards the center of Athens to protest, but were not allowed to do so because the police blocked the roads to Syntagma with cranes.

On top of this, a roadblock was raised on Amalias boulevard, resulting in a vehicle queue of dozens of kilometers up to Syngrou Avenue. Moreover, a second roadblock was set up near NIMITS in Ilisia, across from the Hilton Hotel.

Yesterday in Piraeus, after negotiations with the harbor master, the taxi drivers allowed access to two gates at Xaveriou Coast where the cruise ships are, in order to let the tourists board their buses.

According to the Coast Guard, 15000 tourists were expected to disembark from vessels at Xaveriou Coast. Approximately 2.500 taxi drivers rallied in Piraeus. As a result, traffic chaos and congestion ensued on all roads in and around the city of Piraeus, causing public transport to grind to a halt.

Since early morning, several hundred taxis had queued for kilometers near the airport exits to Attiki Odos, leaving only one lane open to traffic. There were flight delays of up to one hour. Strong riot police arrived promptly on the scene.

SATA Chairman, Thimios Lymberopoulos, made it clear that the protests will continue and called upon the Minister of Infrastructure, Transport and Communications to reverse his decision and create a dialogue based on a Presidential Decree.

On the order of District Attorney Eleni Raikou, the minister asked that judicial proceedings be initiated against any taxi drivers that are hindering public transportation.

On his part, Minister of Tourism Pavlos Geroulanos appealed for calm tempers and urged taxi owners to realize the discomfort experienced by thousands of citizens when the protesters cause traffic jams around ports and airports.

As is quite apparent, the relationship between taxi owners and the government has been driven to extremes since Minister Giannis Ragkousis’ made a decision to proceed immediately with the full deregulation of the taxi trade, ignoring the presidential decree promoted by his predecessor in the ministry, Dimitris Reppas, and agreed upon by owners.

Meanwhile around the country Taxi drivers in the prefecture of Ilia are protesting too, blocking the port of Katakolo.

In Crete, the “Nikos Kazantzakis” airport is blocked at both of its entrances. The airport receives international charter flights and is expected to welcome some 12.000 tourists who will probably be obligated to drag their luggage to their hotels.

In the city of Rethymno taxi drivers blocked the Regional Unification building early on Tuesday morning.

In Thessaloniki they surrounded the “Macedonia” airport, while taxi drivers also blocked the port of Patra and the Araxos airport in Kato Achaia.

Zouros adds Calathes, Xanthopoulos to squad

Ilias Zouros hasn’t had the smoothest of starts as the new coach of Greece with veteran playmaker Dimitris Diamantidis deciding not to end his national team retirement and Loukas Mavrokefalidis also declaring his unavailability for the national team at the EuroBasket in Lithuania because of a "serious family problem." 

When the door shuts on some players, it opens for others.

Following the decision by Mavrokefalidis, Greece drafted forward Pat Calathes into the squad. Calathes is the older brother of point guard Nick Calathes, who played for the Greeks at EuroBasket 2009 and at last year's FIBA World Championship in Turkey. This week, Zouros has added guard Vasileios Xanthopoulos to the group of players who will on Thursday leave for the mountain resort of Karpenissi to begin the preparations for Lithuania.

Greece have played at the last two Olympic Games and will be hoping to book a place in London 2012 but to do so, they will need to reach the EuroBasket Final. Otherwise, they can earn a spot at next summer’s big event via the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for the second straight time.

The sides that finish third, fourth, fifth and sixth will be invited to the 12-team qualifying event, which will be staged next year. At the EuroBasket, the Greeks will play in Group C against Bosnia and Herzegovina, FYR of Macedonia, Croatia, Montenegro and one of the two sides that comes from the Additional Qualifying Round - Portugal, Hungary or Finland.

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Hillary to Papachelas: Greece and FYROM should solve name dispute (VIDEO)

Before leaving Greece and while speaking to Alexis Papachelas in a recorded interview that aired late Monday evening on SKAI television’s “Oi Neoi Fakeloi” Show (The New Files Show), US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton commented on the state of the Greek economy, what type of interests the US has on the possibilities of natural gas in the Aegean as well as Greek and Turkish relations.

Asked what her thoughts were about the possibilities of US investments to Greece, Mrs Clinton told Alexis Papachelas that Greece is “well poised in clean and renewable energy” and that US companies should invest in Greece because of this. “Some countries will be “market setters and leaders” because of this said, adding that because of this “there are investments that Americans would be interested in”.

We think that there is an opportunity here," she added on the sidelines of a three-day trip to Athens to express US support for Greece's debt recovery efforts.

When asked what she thought about the state of the Greek economy and a possible default, Hillary Clinton said that Greece has come a long way but its not where it needs to be as of yet in order to reassure the markets, and to avoid the economic disaster “that could occur”. 

At around the 50 minute and after, Mr. Papachelas continued his interview and this time the subject of foreign relations was opened. 

Asked what her thoughts were on the multitude of reports of natural gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean, she said that the US has given serious credence to the reports and that the US encourages exploration.  She said that there are also ways that Greece can become a “hub for conventional energy”, with oil and gas, pipelines that would be transacting within its boarders.

Asked if the US’s geopolitical view of Greece has changed now that there are serious developments brewing in Syria and Libya, she said that Greece has a very big “strategic advantage” in the area. Mrs. Clinton said that we are witnessing a very rapid change in the Middle East and North Africa, and if you just look at the map, and where Greece is situated, “its strategic advantage is apparent.” She said that there is still much work to be done, and efforts to try and resolve Greek-Turkish problems will continue, as well as the “unfinished business” of the western Balkan.

“We all work to try and support the transitions going on in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, but I don't think that there is any doubt about Greece’s strong strategic location, coupled with its historic relations with these countries in the Mediterranean that there is a great opportunity here for Greece.”

“If you think of the industries of the future, and energy will certainly continue to be one, how Greece positions itself on renewable, on clean energy and on traditional sources of energy will be a major impact on what will happen in the region.”

Turning to Greek Turkish relations, Mrs. Clinton said “I think the diplomatic effort should be shelved during the economic crisis.” She said that the US believes that there is an opening here “I know that Prime Minister (George) Papandreou met with (Turkish counterpart) Erdogan and I encouraged him to continue that”. I think in the medium-term working to resolve Greek-Turkish tensions and a lot of the left over issues of the past clears the decks for Greece to play that strategic leadership role in the region.”

On the subject of Greek-FYROM relations, the US Secretary of State urged Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) to resolve their long-standing name dispute which until now has blocked Skopje's EU and NATO entry bids. "We have made it very clear that we support the negotiations that have gone on between Skopje and Athens.”

Almost two decades of UN-led negotiations over the name dispute have been fruitless.

Skopje officially became a candidate for EU membership in 2005, but Athens has blocked its accession to the 27-nation bloc and NATO. 

FYROM filed an application with the International Court of Justice in November 2008, claiming Greece was violating its rights by blocking its membership of NATO pending the resolution of the name dispute. 

"The government in Skopje needs to know that it will not be able to move forward on its European integration until it does resolve this (issue). And, obviously, Greece has to be willing to accept how the name is resolved," Clinton said.

Hillary Clinton gives interview to Greek reporter Mr. Papachelas on SKAI's Oi Fakeloi (The Files) program. The interview is split in two parts. As the show begins 

she speaks about the Greek economy and the fiscal  measures that the Greek government has taken so far. In the second part of the interview at around the 

50th minute, she begins to speak about the issue of Skopje and the ongoing name dispute between Greece and FYROM. Most of the interview is in English.

Gov’t moves ahead with digitization of state property

The Greek Ministry of Finance announced that it will begin recording public property as well as start inspections on encroached areas. For this purpose the government has decided to proceed with the digitization of all state property. In such a framework, a consultant will be sought who is going to also assess it through automatic calculation of objective values, whereby a fine is going to be automatically implemented upon those who trample on state property.

The competition, scheduled to be held on October 12, 2011, is set to record more than 90.000 public properties in detail, amounting to some 3.500.000 acres of land. After the results are massed, the map of the country's territory is to be posted on the web.

Individuals that are caught within state property are going to be obligated to pay compensation that is to be automatically confirmed for the user via the Greek Taxis (tax) system.